170 SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



this opinion. And yet excellent results have been obtained 

 with cotton cake both in teg and ewe feeding. For lambs it 

 is not suitable any more than it is for calves. Rough or 

 undecorticated cake may be given to ewe tegs without fear, 

 and a mixture of cotton and linseed cakes to fattening sheep. 

 Ewes also eat it with relish and do well upon it, but here its 

 use ends. The case of cotton v. linseed cake for manurial 

 purposes, although at one time loudly proclaimed by agricul- 

 tural chemists, has not been distinctly proved in practice, and 

 the merits of the rival cakes will probably continue to be 

 tested by feeding results rather than by manurial effects. 



BEANS AND PEAS. 



Linseed cake and old beans are the staple concentrated 

 purchased foods of successful sheep feeders. White peas are 

 in high repute for lambs ; but as these animals become older, 

 opinion inclines towards beans. Pea chaff (husks) is also 

 largely used in spite of a somewhat unsatisfactory analysis. 

 Malt coombs (culms) is another excellent food, especially for 

 mixing with inferior hay chaff. 



THE USE OF CAKE AND CORN. 



Profitable sheep farming is inconsistent with too lavish a 

 use of cake and corn. Fatting tegs may be allowed from 

 J Ib. to i lb., or even i Ib. of cake and corn per day, and in 

 extreme cases 2 Ibs. may be given. The quantity should be 

 gradually increased from, let us say, 2 oz. to 2 Ibs. When a 

 large flock of even the highest quality is kept, the use of calve 

 and corn should be restricted to the time between yeaning 

 (lambing) and weaning, or at latest to shearing. Many 

 farmers continue to give a little cake to ewes after weaning 

 up to shearing, because the wool then comes off easier and 

 better. The breeding flock from June to the following Christ- 

 inas should live off the natural produce of the farm if they are 



